A woman facing charges for the deaths of her two children, whose bodies were discovered inside a suitcase, has entered a plea of not guilty. Hakyung Lee, aged 44, stood before a court in Auckland, New Zealand, where she was accused of killing her children, Minu Jo, aged 6, and Yuna Jo, aged 8, back in 2018. During the court proceedings, Justice Geoffrey Venning informed the jurors that they would need to decide on Lee’s guilt based on the facts presented to them.
The tragic discovery of Lee’s children’s bodies inside suitcases occurred in 2022. It is suspected that the bodies had been concealed there for an extended period until a family acquired the contents of an abandoned storage unit in Auckland through an auction. The buyers were unaware of the grim contents within the suitcases, as they were simply clearing out abandoned items due to Lee’s failure to keep up with rental payments.
The trial, anticipated to endure up to four weeks, commenced with opening statements on Tuesday. Lee has opted to represent herself in court, with two court-appointed lawyers in standby roles, as reported by the BBC. The case has garnered significant public attention, with the jury informed that Lee’s culpability must be determined based on specific criteria, including her mental state at the time of the incident.
Born in South Korea, Lee, a New Zealand citizen, returned to her birth country in 2018 after residing in New Zealand for several years. Her husband, the father of the deceased children, passed away from cancer the year before their deaths. Allegations suggest that Lee made threats of harming herself and the children if her husband were to die.
The exact cause of the children’s deaths remains undisclosed. While it was suggested that the children might have been administered prescription sleeping medication by Lee, detected in their bodies during forensic examinations, alternative causes of death have not been ruled out. Descriptions from court documents detail the gruesome act of Lee wrapping the bodies in plastic bags and placing them inside suitcases before concealing them in black plastic bags.
Following an Interpol-issued global red notice for her arrest, Lee was apprehended in Ulsan, South Korea, in September 2022. The Justice Ministry of South Korea disclosed providing New Zealand with crucial evidence related to the case.
